Alaska
' Alaska' is a state in the United States of America, in the extreme northwest portion of the North American continent. It is the largest U.S. state by area (by a substantial margin), and one of the wealthiest and most racially diverse. Situated between the Pacific and Arctic Oceans, Alaska has land borders with the Canadia's British Columbia province and Yukon territory. One western peninsula of Alaska is only 80 miles away from Russia's Siberia region. The native population probably crossed over from Asia sometime between 16,000 BC and 10,000 BC. The first European contact came from the Russian Empire in the early 1700s. After over a century of settlement, Russia sold the territory to the United States in 1867 for US $7.2 million. Subsequently, Alaska was discovered to be quite rich in minerals, including gold and oil. Alaska became the 49th state on January 3, 1959. Alaska in The Disunited States of America Russian Alaska was one of two of oil-rich spots in North America in the late 21st Century. The other was the country of Texas.The Disunited States of America, pg. 11, TPB. Alaska in The Guns of the South Alaska had been a Russian territory during the Second American Revolution. After the fall of Vancouver to the US Army, the Washington Evening Star reported that Russia, alarmed at the US military progress in the Canadas, had offered to sell Alaska to the US rather than seeing it conquered like the rest of North America. When he read this news, Robert E. Lee couldn't help but wonder just what the US could do with all that empty frozen land.The Guns of the South, pg. 460, TPB. Alaska in The Hot War Alaska Territory was the home of Elemendorf Air Force Base until February 7, 1951 when the base was destroyed by the Soviet Union with an atomic bomb. This attack came in response to the USA's destruction of the Soviet base at Pechenga three days before.Bombs Away, pg. 93, ebook. The destruction of Elemndorf was particularly galling as President Harry Truman had ordered Alaska be on alert.Ibid., pgs. 87-90. Alaska in Joe Steele Literary comment In the short story, the territory of Alaska is one of the many isolated places American President Joe Steele exiles opponents of his Second Four Year Plan. In the novel, Alaska is mentioned exclusively in its limited ability to help select a presidential nominee, but it is not specified as the location of any prison camps.Joe Steele, pg. 10, HC. Alaska in "Liberating Alaska" Alaska was the Russian Empire's sole North American territory until the outbreak of the Russian Civil War. Early in the 20th century, a Russian trapper hunting beaver found gold in the region around the minor town of Siknazuak. The minor town almost immediately boomed into a real city as Russians, Canadians and Americans flooded the area, digging for easy gold. However, once the easy gold was extracted, the boom became a bust, and large chunks of the population returned to their respective homes. Gold could still be had, but it required a great deal of work. The U.S., among other countries, invaded Siberia to combat the Red Army in during the Russian Civil War. While the Reds won and established the Soviet Union, their leader, Vladimir Lenin, was forced to cede a number of Russian territories. As the U.S. Marines withdrew from Siberia, they were able to seize Alaska, and Lenin did not contest it.Asimov's Science Fiction, July/August, 2018. In 1929, Lenin's successor, Joseph Stalin, still angered by the loss of the whole of Russian to the U.S., initiated an invasion of the territory. As Siknazuak was close to Siberia, Stalin sent in pro-Soviet agitators to create an uprising against the American garrison there, and then "volunteers" and weapons from the USSR followed. Rumor had it that Stalin intended to turn Siknazuak into a labor camp akin to the ones Lenin had created, with the goal of extracting the remaining gold in the area. The United States Marine Corps liberated Siknazuak after a fierce battle at the end of June, 1929.Ibid. Alaska in Southern Victory Alaska was a substantial Russian territory located on the northwest edge of North America, bordering Canada.See, e.g., American Front, pg. 532, mmp. In the late 1860s, Russia offered the United States the opportunity to purchase Alaska after the War of Secession, but the $7 million price tag was too much for the United States' depressed post-war economy.The Center Cannot Hold, pg. 399, mmp. Despite the fact that a formal state of war existed between the United States and Russia during both the Great War and the Second Great War, and that after 1917 Alaska shared a border with U.S.-occupied Canada, Russia's presence in Alaska did not cause any real conflict with the U.S., nor did it become a theater of war. Both the USA and Russia were engaged with other enemies and saw no reason to divert resources to an inhospitable territory of no value.See, e.g., The Victorious Opposition, pg. 541, mmp.Return Engagement, pg. 390, TPB. While some Americans suggested (half-heartedly) that the U.S. should buy or conquer Alaska from the Russians, neither country placed any value on the region, each viewing it as a frozen wasteland.The Grapple, pg. 145-146, TPB. While gold had been found in the Yukon, the Russian authorities never conducted a mineral survey in their own territory.The Center Cannot Hold, pg. 399, mmp. Alaska in The Two Georges Alaska was a Russian possession in North America, bordering the North American Union provinces of Banksia and Vancouver.Map The Two Georges, frontispiece. Skirmishes between Russian troops and NAU forces were not unheard of. However, both sides viewed the elements as even more dangerous. It was also not unheard of for aeroplanes of either country to land on airfields across the border when they had engine trouble.Ibid., pgs. 177-178, MPB. Merchants and fishermen frequently traded across the border without resorting to official channels. Some important Alaskan cities were Kodiak and Sitka.Ibid., p. 147. The British Empire had made frequent offers to Russia to purchase Alaska beginning in the reign of Queen-Empress Victoria, offers Russia routinely declined.Ibid., pg. 49, MPB. Russia kept a few skiing regiments in Alaska, a mental image which gave Thomas Bushell waking nightmares.Ibid., pgs. 162-163 HC, 241 MPB. Alaska in Worldwar Alaska was a US territory when the Race arrived in mid-1942. After the death of US President, Franklin D. Roosevelt, the US agreed to assign a physicist, Max Kagan, to the USSR's atomic bomb project. Kagan journeyed to the USSR via Alaska due to the Race's increased attacks on shipping.Striking the Balance, pg. 111-112, mmp. Soviet leader Joseph Stalin hated the sale of Alaska to the US in 1867, and believed that it was another sign of the decadence of the Russian Tsars.Ibid. See Also *Jefferson, the 49th state of the United States in the State of Jefferson Stories timeline. References Alaska Alaska Category:The Guns of the South Category:The Hot War Alaska Category:Liberating Alaska Alaska Category:Russian Empire (Alternate Timeline) Alaska Alaska Category:Worldwar